Mediating Infrastructural Discipline: Established Practices and Changing Structures of Dar es Salaam’s Transport Sector

Jacobsen, Malve · 2023 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1007/s12132-022-09477-5

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Summary

This paper examines the introduction of the Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (DART) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, analyzing how new infrastructural disciplines interact with established transport practices in urban Africa. The research addresses the gap in existing literature, which often focuses on the political or practical aspects of BRT implementation, by applying Science and Technology Studies concepts to understand the sociotechnical negotiations involved in transitioning from informal minibus systems (*daladala*) to formalized BRT. The study investigates how humans and nonhumans are disciplined to make the system operational and how these disciplines are mediated, adapted, or resisted. The author employs an ethnographic approach, including participatory observation, ride-alongs, and 75 guideline-based interviews with managers, planners, and operators conducted between 2015 and 2016, alongside digital ethnography. The methodology draws on Akrich’s concepts of scripts and de-scription, as well as Latour’s mediating technologies and Ureta’s disciplinary devices, to analyze how agency is distributed through technologies and how users negotiate these inscribed roles. The study specifically observes driver training, daily operations, and the physical infrastructure of DART to capture the fluid formations of urban transport. Key findings reveal that discipline did not materialize as planned; instead, it resulted in ongoing mediations and negotiations. For instance, technologies designed to enforce speed limits, such as beeping alarms, were ignored by drivers who perceived them as noise rather than warnings, leading to continued speeding. Similarly, while dedicated lanes were legally enforced with barriers, other practices, such as overcrowding, persisted due to insufficient fleet size and scheduling, contradicting the system’s promise of comfort and reliability. The paper highlights that *daladala* practices significantly shaped DART’s evolution, with drivers and passengers adapting to the new system based on their prior experiences. For example, drivers initially struggled with the comfort-oriented driving standards required by DART, often reverting to styles more aligned with general traffic conditions. Furthermore, the distinction between the two systems blurred as DART relied on *daladala* routes for feeder services, leading to a hybrid form of transport rather than a complete replacement. The significance of this research lies in its demonstration that technological innovation and spatial reorganization do not simply impose new forms of discipline but create fluid, negotiated practices. The study challenges the binary view of BRT as a superior, orderly alternative to informal transit, showing instead that pre-existing structures and practices continuously impact new systems. By integrating sociotechnical and historical perspectives, the paper argues that understanding infrastructural transitions requires examining how agency is redistributed through technologies and how users actively de-scribe and reshape the scripts inscribed in them. This contributes to a deeper understanding of urban mobility in the Global South, emphasizing the importance of local contexts and historical continuities in the implementation of global policy models like BRT.

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• traffic safety culture